1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound absorbing system for an electronic device such as a disk array or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent improvements on semiconductors, epitomized by CPUs or information processors used in information technology devices, have led to larger-scale integration of semiconductors inside an information technology device and an increased amount of heat generated therein. Accompanying with that, more cooling fans need to be installed and/or a cooling fan needs to be rotated more. This tends to increase noise from the device.
Further, with recent price decreases and capacity increases of hard disk drives (i.e., information recording devices), information technology devices once typically used by large businesses are now more frequently used by small businesses or end users. Therefore, the demand for noise reduction for such devices is getting greater.
Conventional noise reduction methods include reducing the rotational speeds of fans located inside the housing of an electronic device and placing a sound absorbing structure using a sound absorbing material near the fans or on the cabinet that houses the electronic device provided outside the housing.
For example, when a sound absorbing structure is installed in a disk array that has multiple fans arranged at a front or back section of its housing, multiple sound absorbers that constitute the sound absorbing structure are usually arranged at particular intervals so that airflow paths through which air passes from the fans are each formed between two of the sound absorbers. The noise of the disk array is reduced by sounds radiated from the fans colliding with and being absorbed by the sound absorbers.
Such a noise reduction method is disclosed in JP-2006-156533-A.